The Secret: Hidden through the Ages and Now Revealed -- Eph 3:1-13 (part 6)

Speaker: 
Andrew Fountain
Date: 
Sun, 2023-05-28

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  • Paul’s concern that they might get discouraged by his own suffering leads him into an extraordinarily uplifting and motivating encouragement.
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Sermon Slides - The Secret: Hidden through the Ages and Now Revealed

Goal: That reading why Paul suffered for the gospel might not dismay us, but give us courage and motivation.

The Story So Far

1. The Epic Poem that Opens Ephesians

  • One long sentence, v.3 all the way to v.14!!
  • Exquisitely constructed jewel of a sentence
  • Poetic in its structure
  • Would have been read aloud as a public event

2. Paul’s Prayer —For Us!

  • Paul takes the three core parts of the epic poem and turns them into a prayer
  • 1. Past, 2. Present and 3. Future
  • Then we looked at the first 11 verses of chapter 2
  • Then 2 weeks ago we looked at the rest of chapter 2

Christ has broken down the walls

  1. Jesus took on himself the hostility, which brought down the walls
  2. From Foreigners Far Away, to Family Near
    • Feel how you belong as you read God’s compassion and commitment to his people in the O.T.
  3. The laws condemned us, now its power is demolished
    • Don’t allow your inner judge to constantly condemn you

The Secret: Hidden through the Ages and Now Revealed

  1. The Flow of Reasoning
  2. A Close Look at the Text
  3. Our Response Today

1. The Flow of Reasoning

  • Overview of the flow

Flow of Eph 3:1–13

3:1 Paul, the prisoner of Christ Click to expand

  1. For this reason I, Paul, am the prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles.

3:2–6 The task given to Paul Click to expand

Grace was given to me for you

  mystery: I have already given a summary to you

    Once hidden, but now revealed through the apostles, to the world

      Gentiles and Jews united in Jesus

3:7–12 The task given to the Church Click to expand

Grace was given to me…

  mystery: to the Gentiles, and to everyone!

    Once hidden, but now revealed through the church, to the universe

      God’s ultimate wise purposes in Jesus

3:13 Paul, the prisoner of Christ Click to expand

  1. So then I emplore you not to lose heart over my sufferings on your behalf, for they are your glory.
  • Ephesians 2:14–16

Colossians 1 & 2

  1. …the gospel which you heard, which was proclaimed to all creation under heaven,
    of which I, Paul, became a servant.
  2. Now I rejoice in sufferings
          for the sake of you,
    and I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions, in my own flesh,
          for the sake of his body, which is the church,
  3. of which I became a servant
          according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you,
    to fully [make known] the word of God,
  4. the mystery
    • which has been hidden from ages and from generations,
      but now has been revealed to his saints,
  5. to whom God chose to make known
    • the greatness
      of the riches
      of the glory
      of this mystery
            [displayed] among the Gentiles:
    •             which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
  6. Him we proclaim,
    • warning everyone
      and teaching everyone in all wisdom,
            that we may present everyone complete in Christ.
  7. To this end I also labour,
    • struggling according to his working which works in me in power.
  8. For I want you to know how great a struggle I have
    • for the sake of you
      and those in Laodicea,
      and for all who have not seen my face in the flesh,

2. A Close Look at the Text

Ephesians 3:1–13

Overview

  • The Secret is that God was planning an extraordinary level of unity in humanity
  • On top of that is a unity between Jesus and us
  • We get to demonstrate this to the powers of darkness—they have failed!

3. Our Response Today

  • I started with the goal:

Goal: That reading why Paul suffered for the gospel might not dismay us, but give us courage and motivation.

Take heart:

  • You are on the winning side
  • You have the unfathomable riches of Christ
  • You have the honor of being part of the plan. You get to smash the forces of darkness by showing love and unity
  • You have “in whom we have boldness and access with confidence” to the King of Kings

To sum up:

  • The Secret is that God was planning an extraordinary level of unity in humanity
  • On top of that is a unity between Jesus and us
  • We get to demonstrate this to the powers of darkness—they have failed!

Updated on 2023-05-28 by Andrew Fountain